


I Like Being By Your Side

by MatchaBlossom (0p3n_F0r_Di5cu55i0n)



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brief Hospitalization, Carla is a character!!!, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, I'm bad at tagging someone help me, Injury, Little bit of angst, M/M, TWO IDIOTS, adam is an asshole, skip the rivals part, they can't say that they love each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29738532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0p3n_F0r_Di5cu55i0n/pseuds/MatchaBlossom
Summary: “Stay with me,” Kojiro whispered.“Only if you stay with me.”“Well then, we are stuck with each other.”
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 2
Kudos: 174





	I Like Being By Your Side

Heavy pants filled the factory as the three skaters got to the bottom. 

“I guess I win,” Joe glanced over with a grin. 

Their first race against each other since highschool finished. 

“Yeah right! I let you win,” Adam muttered. He was given a bottle of water from someone and began to gulp it down. 

“You two are impossible,” Cherry whispered and sighed softly. That had been fucking terrifying. One of the rails felt like it was ready to give out. Someone needed to fix that. 

“Well what do you want for your prize?” Adam eventually asked and the two both turned to look at Joe. He was so scrawny yet impossibly tall. 

“Hm… haven’t really thought about it. I guess you two owe me,” Joe suggested and shot them a wink. 

“What-” Cherry muttered and seemed even more confused when Joe winked at them. 

“Such a weirdo,” Adam muttered and adjusted the collar on his shirt. 

“This coming from the guy who skates in a suit!” Joe huffed. People didn’t seem content with how friendly they acted towards one another so they quickly got bored with them. As a result the three began to head out. Yeah a lot of people came for drama and rivalries but apparently these three couldn’t provide that. They were great skaters and each attractive enough (thank god Adam started growing out his hair) but that was it. 

*** 

“Cherry you are starting to fall behind,” Adam explained as he looked at the score he kept on his phone. 

“Jesus do not call me that outside of S. That shit is embarrassing,” Kaoru muttered. 

Joe peaked over Adam’s shoulder to look at the scoreboard. “Damn you are falling behind Cherry,” he said as if it was somehow surprising. Completely disregarding what Kaoru had just said. Kaoru sighed softly and shrugged slightly. Nothing new there. Usually the only way he won when it was the three of them was if those two ended up making eachother fall. It happened frequently enough but people were beginning to notice that Kaoru wasn’t as good. Yeah sure he was good enough but he wasn’t really that good at beefs. He overthought every move and the adrenaline got to him which meant if he didn’t take things slow he would wipe out. 

“Well I guess I just haven’t been feeling it lately,” Kaoru said softly. Truth was that Kojiro and Aino- Adam were just getting better at not falling. Kaoru hadn’t seen much improvement in himself and he would be surprised if those two didn’t catch on soon enough. He was getting left behind- 

“Why don't we skip S next time and hit the skate park instead? It is practically empty when S is going on,” Joe suggested. 

“Seriously? I want to try racing some of the other skaters,” Adam muttered and huffed. 

“Yeah why wouldn’t we go?” Kaoru chuckled awkwardly. He just needed to not let them know how far behind he was falling. He could catch up. 

***

He couldn’t catch up. 

***

They had avoided the skatepark and just kept going to S. Kaoru avoided racing against anyone who wasn’t Adam or Kojiro, but then it happened. 

Adam had been acting off and challenged Kaoru to a beef. 

“Yeah sure, just go easy on me Mr. Prodigy!” Kaoru tried to joke but Adam was acting weird and he was crushing all his opponents. He had been progressing far quicker than anyone could have hoped. So “shocked” was an understatement when Adam did something weird and kept their boards pressed together. Kaoru could have fallen off right then and there but Adam grabbed his waist. 

“Don’t worry I got you,” Adam whispered with this small smile. Nothing was weird about his smile. It was a standard smile that he wore all the time when he was happy. 

“Adam let go,” Kaoru pleaded softly. The wind was going past them far too quickly and Kaoru was sure that his legs were shaking. Behind all those piercings and makeup and the tough exterior Kaoru was weak; Adam saw that now. 

“Just a bit, I won’t let you fall, Cherry. Lets do one turn together. Put your hand on the ground so you don't eat the dirt!” Adam announced. Everyone had their eyes on them but it was as if the track was their stage and the light of the moon kept all their faces blacked out because Kaoru couldn’t see anything aside from the way Adam’s red eyes pierced through him. When he felt them beginning to go up he quickly pressed his hand down to keep himself up but also to try and slow them down. He felt their boards wobble. Once. Twice. Suddenly everything was a blur as they fell off the boards since Cherry's arm had buckled. 

Cherry had skidded across the dirt and he quickly felt cold but all too warm at the same time. He felt dizzy and his arm felt weird. Fuck. That spotlight that kept the track illuminated was beginning to go dark and all he could hear was Kojiro’s familiar voice. 

“Kaoru!” 

***

Kaoru was different after being let out of the hospital. The piercings that once covered his ears and lip were removed and he began to dress a little more formal. He had no interest in seeing Adam. He wasn’t even completely better yet, but he did enjoy seeing Kojiro who stopped by to check on him constantly. 

“We should go for a ride eventually,” Kojiro mentioned. The two were sitting in Kaoru’s room as Kaoru began to apply for post secondary even if he had no clue what he wanted to do yet. Calligraphy was always a passion of his but he didn’t know if he could make a living off of that. Kaoru looked up when he heard Kojiro speak. 

“I don’t know Joe, I tried but my legs shake every time. You could still skate with Adam you know-” 

“Yeah right! After the shit he pulled? Has he even apologized for that?” Kojiro asked. 

“He told me that he was sorry that I “couldn’t keep up”. Asshole,” Kaoru whispered and sucked in a breath. He hated thinking about what had happened. It could have been much worse then what it was though. 

“So are we done with him?” Kojiro asked. 

“Well you can do whatever you want.” 

“No… I’ll do what you do. We have been friends a lot longer and…” Kojiro trailed off. 

“And?” 

“And I- I like being by your side,” Kojiro said softly to finalize the topic. Kaoru simply nodded, ignoring the way his face- their faces heated up. Both of them growing warm and refusing to make eye contact. 

“I like being by your side,” Kaoru whispered. 

***

“Carla calculated the angle of the next turn,” Kaoru said as he turned. He had been working on this board for months. Working on a way to find out if he could skate again without freaking out. 

“Yes master. Turn at seventy-eight degrees to your right for most efficient pathing.” 

“This feels nearly like cheating, Kaoru,” Joe teased as they made their way to S. Kojiro had bulked up a bit and Kaoru was moving towards traditional clothing. 

“Well she helps. I can focus now in a way I couldn’t before,” Kaoru explained. He didn’t want to be called a cheater, it wasn’t like the board had any sort of motor. He just needed this level of communication. There were plenty of bugs and sometimes calculations didn’t come out exact, but Kaoru could still improve her. 

“She?” 

“I named her Carla,” Kaoru clarified since apparently Kojiro hadn’t heard him earlier. 

“You're a weirdo,” Kojiro teased. 

Despite this they stayed side by side. 

***

The two held a glare after their latest beef. This one had gotten rather intense and Kaoru was still pumped full of adrenaline which is probably why he pulled off the mask he had grown accustomed to wearing and stormed his way over to Kaoru and grabbed him by his jacket, the asshole didn’t wear a shirt anymore apparently. 

“You won-” Joe started. 

“You let me!” 

“No not really. I tried my best to stay with you but you were going to fast Cherry. You have my word though, I’ll always stay by your side,” Joe whispered towards the end. “No matter how fast you are going I’ll catch up,” he added on for only Kaoru to hear. “Will you do the same?” 

“Yes.” Kaoru whispered before yanking the green haired man down and their lips clashed together. There were too many people and gasps could be heard. People probably took photos but Kaoru couldn’t find it in him to care. Their skin was hot against one another and Kojiro gently put a hand on his waist and another on his shoulder. Their lips burned against one another and if they weren’t in public who knows what would have happened. Eventually Kojiro is forced to break the kiss for air and chattering fills the factory. 

“Stay with me,” Kojiro whispered. 

“Only if you stay with me.” 

“Well then, we are stuck with each other.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well I really can't stop writing for this fandom can I? Took a break from my other fic to write this and wait for the new episode to come out. I mainly write for Sk8 these days so you could check out my other work lol


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